Novak Djokovic does not regret his decision not to be vaccinated against COVID-19, despite losing the world number one ranking.

Djokovic has spent a record 380 weeks at the top of the rankings but was unable to compete in the first two ATP 1000 events of the season – the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Open – after his request for special permission to travel to the United States was declined.

The US currently bars unvaccinated travellers from entering the country, although that policy is set to be scrapped in May. 

With the 22-time grand slam champion unable to feature, Carlos Alcaraz returned to the top of the rankings with victory at Indian Wells.

"I have no regrets," Djokovic told CNN.

"It's a pity that I wasn't able to play in Indian Wells [and] Miami. I love those tournaments. I had plenty of success there. But at the same time, it is the conscious decision I made and I knew that there was always a possibility that I wouldn't go. 

"It is the current state or current situation that I hope will change later this year for the US Open. That is the most important tournament for me on American soil.

"I've learned through life that regrets only hold you back and basically make you live in the past and I don't want to do that. 

"I also don't want to live too much in the future. I want to be as much as in the present moment, but of course, think about the future and create a better future."

Alcaraz, who won the US Open in 2022, romped to last week's title at Indian Wells with a comprehensive 6-3 6-2 victory against Daniil Medvedev in the final.

"I congratulate Alcaraz," Djokovic said. "He absolutely deserves to come back to number one."

Djokovic's attention will now turn to the clay season in Europe as he gears up to try and win a third French Open title.

"I'm as enthusiastic as ever, as motivated as ever for the sport, my family, my foundation, all the projects and everything I'm doing off the court," he added.

"The dignity, and integrity, and staying true to myself, and my beliefs and my rights are above everything."

Rafael Nadal has dropped out of the world's top 10 men's tennis rankings for the first time in almost 18 years.

Nadal has been in the top 10 ever since April 2005, but on Monday fell to 13th in the ATP rankings after injury forced him to miss Indian Wells.

The 36-year-old's run came to an end on the same day that teenage compatriot Carlos Alcaraz reclaimed his number one spot from Novak Djokovic after beating Daniil Medvedev in Sunday's Indian Wells final.

Nadal is yet to recover from the hip injury that has hampered him since his Australian Open exit to Mackenzie McDonald in January.

Though the 22-time grand slam winner could return to the top 10 once he is back in action, it will not be in the next month as he has also withdrawn from the Miami Masters.

The latest ATP rankings saw Djokovic drop to second place, while Medvedev moved from sixth to fifth, Felix Auger-Aliassime leapt from 10th to sixth, Hubert Hurkacz nudged into the top 10 as he moved up two places to ninth, while Taylor Fritz dropped from fifth to 10th.

New world number one Carlos Alcaraz says he played "perfect" in Sunday's final demolition of Daniil Medvedev to cap a "perfect tournament" as he lifted the Indian Wells title for the first time.

Despite Medvedev coming into Sunday's decider on a 19-match winning streak, Alcaraz dominated 6-3 6-2 to win in 72 minutes.

Alcaraz's Indian Wells triumph was his third ATP Masters 1000 crown from three finals, not dropping a set in any of those deciders.

The 19-year-old Spaniard went through the Indian Wells Open without dropping a set and reflected that it was a "perfect" fortnight for him.

"It feels amazing to lift the trophy here [and] to recover the number one," Alcaraz told reporters, having reclaimed the top rank from Novak Djokovic due to his victory.

"It has been the perfect tournament. It was a goal for me, this tournament that I really wanted to win. For me, it's amazing."

The lopsided nature of Alcaraz's victory over Medvedev in the final caught many by surprise, hitting 19-4 winners against the in-form fifth seed.

"Honestly I didn’t expect that," Alcaraz said. "I expected a tough match but I played perfect. I said before against Daniil you have to play your best and tactically at your best level as well. I did perfect today. That's why it looks easy but it wasn’t."

Alcaraz added he was delighted to reclaim the number one rank which he had lost after Djokovic won the 2023 Australian Open which he missed due to injury.

Djokovic was unable to participate at Indian Wells due to being unvaccinated for COVID-19, with the pair actually not facing off at any events this year.

Alcaraz returned from abdominal and hamstring injuries last month at the Argentina Open and Rio Open before competing at Indian Wells, while Djokovic was in action at the Dubai Tennis Championships. The next opportunity for the pair to face off as at April's Monte Carlo Masters.

"Novak is one of the best players in the world," Alcaraz said. "That's obvious. I always say, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. I really wanted to play against Novak again. We miss him on tour and hopefully to have him back very, very soon."

Alcaraz added: "It feels great to be back on the number one. Of course, every player on the ATP wants to be the number one. For me, it's a dream come true again. Obviously being in front of such great players like Novak, the top player, it's an amazing feeling."

Despite Djokovic being unable to compete at Indian Wells, Medvedev said he felt Alcaraz's return to the top rank was a true number one.

"One hundred per cent," Medvedev said. "It's unfortunate Novak can't play all the tournaments. If you get injured, Rafa is injured for some time, we cannot say if Rafa isn’t injured he would be number one, because we cannot know. Same about Novak.

"For sure if he was able to play last year and this year all the tournaments there is a possibility that the rankings would be different but Carlos is deservedly number one, he won more points than everybody else in the last 52 weeks and he was also year-end number one last year."

New world number one Carlos Alcaraz says he played "perfect" in Sunday's final demolition of Daniil Medvedev to cap a "perfect tournament" as he lifted the Indian Wells title for the first time.

Despite Medvedev coming into Sunday's decider on a 19-match winning streak, Alcaraz dominated 6-3 6-2 to win in 72 minutes.

Alcaraz's Indian Wells triumph was his third ATP Masters 1000 crown from three finals, not dropping a set in any of those deciders.

The 19-year-old Spaniard went through the Indian Wells Open without dropping a set and reflected that it was a "perfect" fortnight for him.

"It feels amazing to lift the trophy here [and] to recover the number one," Alcaraz told reporters, having reclaimed the top rank from Novak Djokovic due to his victory.

"It has been the perfect tournament. It was a goal for me, this tournament that I really wanted to win. For me, it's amazing."

The lopsided nature of Alcaraz's victory over Medvedev in the final caught many by surprise, hitting 19-4 winners against the in-form fifth seed.

"Honestly I didn’t expect that," Alcaraz said. "I expected a tough match but I played perfect. I said before against Daniil you have to play your best and tactically at your best level as well. I did perfect today. That's why it looks easy but it wasn’t."

Alcaraz added he was delighted to reclaim the number one rank which he had lost after Djokovic won the 2023 Australian Open which he missed due to injury.

Djokovic was unable to participate at Indian Wells due to being unvaccinated for COVID-19, with the pair actually not facing off at any events this year.

Alcaraz returned from abdominal and hamstring injuries last month at the Argentina Open and Rio Open before competing at Indian Wells, while Djokovic was in action at the Dubai Tennis Championships. The next opportunity for the pair to face off as at April's Monte Carlo Masters.

"Novak is one of the best players in the world," Alcaraz said. "That's obvious. I always say, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. I really wanted to play against Novak again. We miss him on tour and hopefully to have him back very, very soon."

Alcaraz added: "It feels great to be back on the number one. Of course, every player on the ATP wants to be the number one. For me, it's a dream come true again. Obviously being in front of such great players like Novak, the top player, it's an amazing feeling."

Despite Djokovic being unable to compete at Indian Wells, Medvedev said he felt Alcaraz's return to the top rank was a true number one.

"One hundred per cent," Medvedev said. "It's unfortunate Novak can't play all the tournaments. If you get injured, Rafa is injured for some time, we cannot say if Rafa isn’t injured he would be number one, because we cannot know. Same about Novak.

"For sure if he was able to play last year and this year all the tournaments there is a possibility that the rankings would be different but Carlos is deservedly number one, he won more points than everybody else in the last 52 weeks and he was also year-end number one last year."

Novak Djokovic has been ruled out of the Miami Open after tournament organisers "exhausted all the options" in an effort to secure him a travel exemption.

The 22-time grand slam winner withdrew from the Indian Wells Open as he is unable to play in the United States.

He is not vaccinated against COVID-19, which remains a requirement of international travellers, but Djokovic had hoped to be granted special permission to enter the country.

US tennis authorities and a number of politicians also expressed support for an exception being made for the 35-year-old Djokovic, with US president Joe Biden urged to reconsider policy.

Even last week, Serbian superstar Djokovic was clinging to hopes of playing the Miami Open, which he has won six times.

However, tournament director James Blake told Tennis Channel there is no chance of that happening, despite extensive efforts.

"Obviously, we're one of the premier tournaments in the world, we'd like to have the best players that can play," said Blake, a former world number four.

"We did all that we could. We tried to talk to the government, but that's out of our hands. We tried and he wasn't able to play."

Blake said he was in the same position as Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas, being unable to influence government-level decisions.

"We tried to get Novak Djokovic to be allowed to get an exemption, but that wasn't able to happen," Blake said. "We'd love to have him, and he’s our greatest champion, won it six times here.

"Unfortunately, that's way above my pay grade."

Blake added: "We exhausted all the options we knew of. Hopefully Novak will be back this year and hopefully he will be back for all the later events in the States including Cincinnati and the US Open."

Tennis will never see a "big three" with the quality of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer again, believes Juan Martin del Potro.

The trio, who have combined for a total of 64 men's singles grand slam titles across a near-two-decade-long period of dominance, have come to define the sport's modern era.

Federer retired last year and while Nadal and Djokovic continue, both are well into the twilight of their careers, despite astonished continued success.

Del Potro, the 2009 US Open winner, also retired in 2022, and he thinks the trio's dominance is unlikely to be replicated going forward, even though he sees Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune as three players who could possibly go on to enjoy great success.

"The only thing I lacked was being number one [in the ATP Rankings]," he said. "It was always a dream, and I always worked for it. I never made it because there was either Federer, or Nadal, or Djokovic.

"When I look at the rankings and the years of my career and who was fighting to be number one I see that it was beautiful that these were the ones who didn't let me make it, this dream."

"One day, the big three will end. We have Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner [and] Holger Rune, other young people who will mark the circuit.

"But for me, [for] many years, [it was] the big three. There will not be anything similar."

Del Potro reached a career high-mark of third in the ATP Rankings in 2018, with Andy Murray the only man other than Nadal, Federer or Djokovic to top the charts between 2005 and 2021.

Goran Ivanisevic says Novak Djokovic has not given up hope of competing at the Miami Open this month.

The 22-time grand slam champion withdrew from Indian Wells on Monday as he is unable to play in the United States.

As he is not vaccinated against COVID-19, Djokovic had applied for special permission to enter the USA, but was not given the green light.

While the 35-year-old is in the draw for the Miami Open, he may have to withdraw again despite the United States Tennis Association and US Open expressing their hope he would be allowed to feature.

Djokovic wants to play in a tournament that starts on March 22, his coach Ivanisevic confirmed, and pressed for a swift decision on the issue.

"We haven't given up. He wants to play and I would love it if they allow him – it would be great both for him and for tennis," he told Tennis Majors.

"If not, it's not the end of the world, he didn’t play last year as well. The most important thing is that we find out soon, so that we can make a plan.

"Although, in terms of preparing for the European clay court season, I'm not sure playing in Miami is the best solution. It depends on Novak – in the past he has triumphed in Monte Carlo having played in Indian Wells and Miami.

"If he is mentally ready and in his fighter mode, like he was in Australia, then anything is possible."

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has appealed to United States President Joe Biden to overturn a ban which will see Novak Djokovic miss this month's Indian Wells and Miami Open tournaments. 

The world number one remains unvaccinated against Covid-19 and submitted a request for special permission to play in the two ATP Masters 1000 events in the US, with Miami set to start in under two weeks. 

However, the Serbian has already been forced to withdraw from Indian Wells after his request was denied by American officials. 

The US is expected to lift its ban on unvaccinated travellers in May but, in a letter to Biden on Tuesday, DeSantis urged them to reconsider their ban on Djokovic ahead of the Miami Open in his state.

"This denial is unfair, unscientific and unacceptable," DeSantis wrote in the letter, which he posted on social media. 

"The only thing keeping Mr Djokovic from participating in this tournament is your administration's continued enforcement of a misguided, unscientific, and out-of-date Covid-19 vaccination requirement for foreign guests. 

"I urge you to reconsider. It's time to put pandemic politics aside and give the American people what they want - let him play." 

Florida senator Marco Rubio and Indian Wells tournament director Tommy Haas are two other figures who have also expressed their desire to see the ban overturned. 

Djokovic has been involved in regular controversies as a result of his Covid-19 vaccine stance, previously stating he would be willing to forgo grand slam opportunities rather than have the vaccination. 

The 22-time grand slam champion missed the Australian Open last year after being deported over the issue but returned in January 2023 to win his 10th title in Melbourne, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. 

Djokovic has not competed in either the Indian Wells or Miami Open since 2019. He has won Indian Wells on five occasions and is a record six-time winner in Miami.

DeSantis has been tipped a potential Republican presidential candidate who could take on Biden at the 2024 election if he can beat Donald Trump to his party's nomination.

Novak Djokovic's absence from the Indian Wells Open has caused a stir in US politics, and on the tennis court it is hugely significant, too.

Sport was given a jolt three years ago when Indian Wells organisers cancelled the event on the eve of action getting under way, citing one local case of COVID-19.

At that point, on March 8, 2020, there had been more than 500 confirmed cases across the United States, with 21 deaths. Soon enough, events across the globe were being postponed or scrubbed.

Coronavirus travel restrictions prevented the unvaccinated Djokovic from taking part last year, and they will keep him away again this time, despite calls from two Florida senators for the jab requirement to be lifted by President Biden to allow the Serbian into the country.

With the world number one sidelined, Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz look likely challengers for the men's title. There have been surprise champions in recent times, with Cameron Norrie winning in 2021 and Taylor Fritz carrying off the title 12 months ago, so it would be hasty to rule out something similar.

In the women's event, there has not been a successful title defence since Martina Navratilova won in 1990 and 1991. That can partly be attributed to Serena and Venus Williams boycotting for over a decade at the peak of their powers after complaining of facing racial abuse, and in their absence no player stepped up to dominate.

Iga Swiatek triumphed in Indian Wells and Miami last season, racking up the 'Sunshine Double', and she starts as a strong favourite again, but defeat in the recent Dubai final to Barbora Krejcikova showed the 21-year-old rankings leader will not have everything her way this season.

First-round action gets under way on Wednesday, after two days of qualifying, and here Stats Perform, with Opta data, looks at what lies ahead.

After Norrie and Fritz, could there be another shock men's winner?

Djokovic has won a joint-record five Indian Wells titles, but he last featured in 2019, when he lost to Philipp Kohlschreiber in round three.

Rafael Nadal is also absent this time with a hip injury, and with Roger Federer retired this will be the second Indian Wells main draw since 2000, after 2021, to feature none of the ATP Big Three.

The Big Three was a Big Four at one point, though, and Andy Murray will be competing. It is one of the two Masters 1000 tournaments Murray has never won, along with Monte Carlo, having triumphed at the other seven. Murray has the most match wins at Indian Wells among all men competing this time, having 28 to his name, two more than John Isner who sits next on the list.

No ATP player has a better win percentage at Indian Wells than Djokovic (84.7 per cent), who has won 50 of his 59 matches, while the now-retired Federer has appeared in the most finals (nine), also winning five times, so there is no doubt the field is missing its long-time classiest acts.

Fritz last year became the first men's champion aged under 25 years old since Djokovic in 2011, and he was also the first American to take the men's title since Andre Agassi beat Pete Sampras in the 2001 final.

Medvedev has won three consecutive tournaments in the lead-up this year, tearing to titles in Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai, but the Russian has a disappointing record at Indian Wells, having yet to reach the quarter-finals in five visits.

Just four players this century, including Alcaraz last year, have reached the semi-final stage before turning 20, with Nadal, Djokovic and Murray the other three. Alcaraz is still only 19 but a shade older than Boris Becker when he was a 19-year-old champion in 1987, the youngest men's winner.

Who else might come through? It feels like a free-for-all and Felix Auger-Aliassime will be hoping for a breakthrough tournament, with the Canadian being the only member of the current ATP top 10 to have never reached a final at ATP 1000 level. It has to happen sooner rather than later, surely.

Swiatek bids to lift curse of women's champions

Ever since Navratilova's two in a row, being a back-to-back champion at Indian Wells has been beyond all singles players on the WTA side.

Indeed, the only players to reach the final the year after their title run have been Lindsay Davenport (champion 1997, runner-up 1998) and Ana Ivanovic (champion 2008, runner-up 2009).

Nine women have won twice at Indian Wells, but none have managed three or more titles. The nine are: Steffi Graf, Mary Joe Fernandez, Navratilova, Daniela Hantuchova, Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Victoria Azarenka, Davenport and Maria Sharapova.

A Swiatek victory would make it a club of 10, but there is a club of one when it comes to players who have captured two titles without dropping a set in either trophy run. Sharapova is the only player to pull off that feat, with her 2006 and 2013 glory runs.

Among all women, Davenport has reached the most finals (six) and won the most matches (47), with Azarenka having the most wins among active WTA players (34).

Navratilova remains the oldest champion, having won aged 34 in 1991, while Martina Hingis and Serena Williams won as 17-year-olds in 1998 and 1999.

Shocks can happen: Bianca Andreescu took the title as a wildcard in 2019, while Jenny Byrne reached the final as a qualifier in 1989, the first year the women's event was staged.

If there is to be a teenage women's finalist this time, maybe it will be Coco Gauff. The American turns 19 midway through the tournament, on March 13, and has yet to reach a WTA 1000 final, although she got to the French Open title match last year, where Swiatek inflicted a heavy defeat.

Perhaps Aryna Sabalenka can reprise her Australian Open form, having won a first major in Melbourne. But Sabalenka's record in Indian Wells is a rough one, with the Belarusian yet to go past the fourth round.

Strap in for a thrill ride. They all want to stop Swiatek, but if any player can defy history it might just be the Pole.

Novak Djokovic will not feature at the Indian Wells Open.

It was confirmed by tournament organisers on Sunday that the world number one would miss the first Masters 1000 tournament of the season.

As he is not vaccinated against COVID-19, Djokovic had applied for special permission to enter the United States, but that has seemingly been denied.

Until at least April 10, international visitors to the US must have proof of vaccination.

Djokovic, a five-time winner at Indian Wells, is also set to miss the Miami Open later in March, while his participation in the US Open could be in doubt.

The 22-time grand slam champion – who reached the semi-finals at the Dubai Tennis Championships last week – missed last year's major at Flushing Meadows due to his vaccination status. He was, however, allowed to play in this season's Australian Open.

Nikoloz Basilashvili moved into the main field following Djokovic's withdrawal.

Novak Djokovic was waiting on Saturday to learn whether he would get last-minute clearance to enter the United States to play at Indian Wells and Miami, as American tennis chiefs threw support behind the world number one.

US senator Rick Scott claimed Djokovic has been refused permission by the US Department of Homeland Security for a vaccine waiver and urged president Joe Biden to intervene on behalf of the Serbian and "fix this NOW".

Scott was backed by fellow senator Marco Rubio, who wrote on Twitter: "@DjokerNole [Djokovic] shouldn’t be prohibited from playing in the @MiamiOpen because of unconstitutional vaccine mandates.

"@POTUS [Biden] should immediately grant Djokovic a waiver to the vaccine mandate for international travellers."

Djokovic has refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19 and that stance has cost him places in two grand slam tournaments, being deported before last year's Australian Open and then denied permission to compete at the US Open later in the season.

It has also meant he has had to miss regular tour events in the United States, which demands international travellers are fully vaccinated.

Scott and Rubio are both senators for Florida, and accordingly their focus is on the Miami Open, which runs from March 22 to April 2.

More pressingly for the 35-year-old Djokovic, the Indian Wells tournament begins in the coming week, with main draw singles matches getting under way on Wednesday.

A statement posted on the US Open Twitter page confirmed support for the 22-time grand slam winner.

It read: "Novak Djokovic is one [of] the greatest champions our sport has ever seen.

"The USTA and US Open are hopeful that Novak is successful in his petition to enter the country, and that the fans will be able to see him back in action at Indian Wells and Miami."

Daniil Medvedev denied Novak Djokovic a 21st consecutive win to set up an all-Russian final against Andrey Rublev at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Djokovic had started 2023 by coming out on top in all 15 of his matches and winning the Australian Open, with his overall winning streak standing at 20 games.

But Medvedev ended the world number one's perfect start to the year with a superb display to take a 6-4 6-4 triumph on Friday.

The 27-year-old, who himself made it 13 consecutive wins, broke Djokovic twice on the way to taking the opening set.

Medvedev's high standard of play continued in the second, breaking Djokovic in the first game before holding in all five of his service games to secure a straight-sets victory.

"When you play against Novak you just have to play your best," Medvedev said after the win. "Kind of hope he doesn't play his best on the day because when he plays his best, well he has 22 grand slams, so even if you play your best, it is going to be tough, not sure you win.

"I managed to play a higher level than him today. In the second set I didn't face one break point, but there were so many 30-30 games. But I managed to stay composed and I am happy to be in the final tomorrow."

His win means he will face countryman Rublev in the final after the reigning champion kept his hopes of retaining the title alive with a 6-3 7-6 (11-9) success over Alexander Zverev.

Rublev had never previously won a match or set against Zverev in five previous meetings, but won three of the German's service games in the opener to go a set ahead.

The second seed was out-aced nine to two in the second set but managed to force a tie-break, going on to survive a set point before eventually securing the win on his sixth match point.

Rublev will look to join Roger Federer and Djokovic as only the third repeat champion at the tournament when he takes on Medvedev in Saturday's final.

The compatriots have met six times previously with Medvedev winning four of them, though Rublev has taken victory in their last two match-ups.

Novak Djokovic clinched a 20th win in a row and maintained his perfect year to date with victory against Hubert Hurkacz at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

The world number one cruised in the opening set, before Hurkacz put up more of a fight in the second.

Djokovic eventually prevailed to seal a 6-3 7-5 win, successfully seeing off his opponent despite Hurkacz valiantly throwing everything at him.

The 35-year-old Serbian has now won 15 consecutive matches in 2023, with his latest impressive display including just seven unforced errors, less than half Hurkacz's 15 as Djokovic's clinical edge proved decisive.

Fifteen successive victories is the fourth-best start to a season in Djokovic's career, though he remains some way off the 41-0 record he began 2011 with.

A semi-final clash against Daniil Medvedev awaits following the Russian's comfortable 6-3 6-2 victory against Borna Coric, which clocked in at one hour and 21 minutes.

Medvedev is also in the midst of an impressive winning streak, rattling off 12 consecutive successes since being eliminated by Sebastian Korda at the Australian Open in January.

Andrey Rublev booked his spot in the final four with a 6-3 7-6 (7-3) victory over Botic van de Zandschulp to maintain his title defence.

He will face seventh seed Alexander Zverev in the semi-final, the German having seen off Lorenzo Sonego 7-5 6-4.

Novak Djokovic swept through to the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships with ease on Wednesday, clinching a 6-2 6-3 win over Tallon Griekspoor.

The Serbian picked up his 19th consecutive victory midway through his record 378th week as world number one, settling his last-16 clash in straight sets.

Griekspoor, at a career-high position of 39th in the ATP rankings himself, proved no match for the 22-time grand slam winner, who dismantled him inside an hour and 22 minutes.

Djokovic had looked poised for a near-flawless performance, with a late lost service game at 5-1 up in the second set the only major blemish on his display.

"It's been a great evening for me," Djokovic said in his post-match interview. 

"Yesterday [against Tomas Machac], I really had to work hard to get a win. Tonight, right from the blocks, I think I was sharp. I definitely played better than I did last night.

"Maybe the last three or four games weren't the best to close the match, but I managed to find a good serve in the end.

"I'm very pleased with the performance and with the way I felt on the court, and hopefully things can go in the right direction for tomorrow."

Djokovic, who remains undefeated in 2023, is bidding to win the Dubai title for a sixth time, in what represents his first tournament since he won the Australian Open in January. 

Elsewhere, second and third seeds Andrey Rublev and Daniil Medvedev joined Djokovic in easing their way into the last eight.

The former was made to work by Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina however, recovering for a 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3) win, while the latter saw off Alexander Bublik 6-4 6-2.

Fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime crashed out with a surprise 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 loss to Italy's Lorenzo Sonego, who is rewarded with a last-eight clash against seventh seed Alexander Zverev.

Novak Djokovic was made to work hard for his 18th consecutive victory, eventually putting away Tomas Machac in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Djokovic, who is celebrating a record 378th week as world number one, had to rely on a third-set tie-break to finally get over the line, defeating his Czech opponent 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-1) on Tuesday.

Machac is ranked 130th in the world, but caused Djokovic plenty of problems, earning 10 break points across the match, though he was only able to convert three.

Djokovic had a 4-1 lead in the deciding set before Machac fought back to force a tie-break, but the Australian Open champion ultimately had few problems at 6-6 as he won seven of the eight points played to clinch the win.

"Tomas certainly didn't play like the No. 130 in the world today," Djokovic said of his opponent. "He was giving me all kinds of trouble. But I guess when it mattered, I found another gear."

Djokovic, who is still undefeated in 2023, will face Tallon Griekspoor in the second round.

Elsewhere, fresh off two titles in as many weeks, third seed Daniil Medvedev eased past Matteo Arnaldi 6-4 6-2 to tee up a tie with Alexander Bublik next after his opponent Alexandar Lazarov retired hurt with Bublik leading 6-1 1-0.

Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Maxime Cressy 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-3, but sixth seed Karen Khachanov is out after he was beaten 7-5 6-2 by Botic van de Zandschulp.

The Dutchman will take on Mikael Ymer in the second round after his 6-2 6-3 win against Francesco Passaro, while eighth seed Borna Coric and Dan Evans played just four games before the latter retired hurt.

Christopher O'Connell set up a match against Alexander Zverev in the next round after he overcame Emil Ruusuvuori 7-5 6-4.